Is Doctor Who too scary for kids?

A British newspaper columnist reckons Doctor Who has become too frightening for children, apparently forgetting that media-types have been complaining about that exact thing for decades.

A British newspaper columnist reckons Doctor Who has become too scary for children, apparently forgetting that media-types have been complaining about that exact thing for decades.

Writing in the Guardian, Pete May complained that the season six premiere, which opened with a scene in which the Doctor (Matt Smith) was shot to death before he could regenerate, was "deeply unsettling" for young children.

May added that recent Doctor Who villains like the Silence (creepy aliens you forget you've seen when you look away from them) and the Weeping Angels (statues that attack you when you blink) are "clever writing, but not great for getting the kids to sleep".

Complaints Doctor Who is too scary aren't new — they've been going on since at least the 1970s. The Brits even have a phrase which refers directly to generations of former children who hid behind the sofa because they couldn't bear to watch the show.

"Doctor Who's great gift has been to introduce generations of kids to dread, with the safety net of knowing, first, that the Doctor and his assistants will prevail, one way or another; and second, that the fear will pass in less than an hour."